With the 121-112 loss on Wednesday night, the Miami Heat are now down 0-2 to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round of the playoffs, as getting back on track will be crucial when coming back home. As the Heat were looking to fix what lacked in Game 1, there’s no doubt the team improved in Game 2, but still resulted in defeat as star Bam Adebayo shares his approach to the team’s mindset.
Adebayo would finish the game with 11 points on three of nine shooting from the field to go along with 14 rebounds and nine assists. Despite the near triple-double, some could see it as disappointing to see the lack of offense from Adebayo, especially seeing the single-digit shot attempts.
Still, the approach for himself and the team is simple in heading back to Miami for Game 3, which involves getting a “great cooked meal,” according to the team’s YouTube page.
“Get home, get a great cooked meal, and you go out and try to get you two at the crib,” Adebayo said.
While Game 1 had Cleveland dominating throughout the game, Game 2 was more competitive towards the end, as despite the Cavs leading by as much as 19, the Heat would cut the deficit to just two points late in the fourth quarter. However, it would be star Donovan Mitchell who made several key buckets to ice Miami as they missed three and committed a turnover to put an end to the rally.
Heat’s Tyler Herro on how there’s no “moral victories”
As Heat star Tyler Herro would have another exceptional game offensively with 33 points on 14 for 24 shooting from the field to go along with six assists and five rebounds, he doesn’t think there’s any “moral victories.” On the other hand, there are some aspects that the guard believes the team can take into Game 3 and get one in the win column.
“We lost a game. I don’t think there’s any moral victories in this, honestly,” Herro said. “But you can take some things, the positives from this, and try to carry it over to game three. Again, we’ll watch film, put a game plan together, see what we can take from this game and carry over to the next.”
Even with the impressive game offensively, he would be revealed to be a target defensively by Cavs guard Darius Garland as one to “pick on” via Legion Hoops.
“Pick on Tyler Herro and take care of the ball,” Garland said after scoring 21 points and recording nine assists on Wednesday. “Don’t play in tight spaces and pick on their weak defenders, go at them.”
Darius Garland on what the Cavs need to do to continue to win:
“Pick on Tyler Herro.” 👀 pic.twitter.com/K8i96FUZti
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) April 24, 2025
Heat succumbed to Donovan Mitchell, Cavs despite late-game run
While the Heat look for bright sides down 0-2 in the series, it’s simple to look at the moments where Cleveland took full control of the game, with any opposing run being ineffective. The second quarter was a frustrating one for Miami as the Cavs scored 43 points, making a whopping 11 three-pointers in the period, which is an NBA playoff record.
If there’s one thing for certain, containing Mitchell has been a headache, as besides scoring 30 Wednesday, 17 of them came in integral moments in the final frame where the Heat were trying to make a run. Playing perfect basketball from tip-off to the final buzzer will be a goal moving forward.
“It has been a couple of games where we’re right there, and now we just have to figure out how to get it over the top,” Spoelstra said. “It’s going to take more, it’s going to take collectively us digging deeper, and we have respect for who they are, what they can do. But we have to be better.”
“At the end of the day, it’s a two-point game and we had our opportunities there,” Spoelstra continued. “We struggled to contain [Donovan] Mitchell, obviously, down the stretch. He made some tough shots.”
At any rate, Miami looks to avoid going down 0-3 in the series as Game 3 is Saturday afternoon at the Kaseya Center.
Be the first to comment